Communication method, terminal, and network-side device

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and discloses a communication method, a terminal, and a network-side device. The communication method of embodiments of the present application comprises: a terminal receives first configuration information from a network-side device, the first configuration information being used for configuring a flexible physical random access channel (PRACH) resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block (SSB); and on the basis of the first configuration information, the terminal determines an association result between the at least one SSB and the PRACH resource. According to the embodiments of the present application, the network-side device sends the first configuration information to the terminal, such that the terminal can determine, on the basis of the first configuration information, the association result between the at least one SSB and the flexible PRACH resource, thereby implementing configuration of the flexible PRACH resource associated with the at least one SSB, and further implementing flexible configuration of an association between the SSB and the PRACH resource.

Description

Communication method, terminal and network side equipment

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on November 24, 2023, with application number 202311588137.9 and invention name “Communication Method, Terminal and Network Side Equipment”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and specifically relates to a communication method, a terminal, and a network-side device. Background Art

[0004] The 5G synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SS / PBCH block, SSB) includes the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and demodulation reference signal (DMRS). At the same time, the cell can configure multiple frequency division multiplexing (FDM) PRACH transmission opportunities (also called PRACH Occasion, abbreviated as RO) in the time domain position of a physical random access channel (PRACH).

[0005] In related technologies, PRACH resources are statically configured for the current cell through RRC signaling and cannot be changed dynamically. Future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems) may feature more flexible PRACH resource configurations, such as additional flexible PRACH resources that can be dynamically activated or deactivated. However, how to associate these additional flexible PRACH resources with SSBs remains an urgent issue. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a terminal, and a network-side device, which can flexibly configure the association relationship between SSB and PRACH resources.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is executed by a terminal, and the method includes:

[0008] The terminal receives first configuration information from a network side device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel PRACH resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block SSB;

[0009] The terminal determines the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource based on the first configuration information.

[0010] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which is performed by a network-side device, and the method includes:

[0011] The network side device determines first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel PRACH resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block SSB;

[0012] The network side device sends the first configuration information to the terminal.

[0013] According to a third aspect, a communication device is provided, including:

[0014] A receiving module, configured to receive first configuration information from a network side device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel (PRACH) resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block (SSB);

[0015] A determination module is used to determine the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource based on the first configuration information.

[0016] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, including:

[0017] A determination module, configured to determine first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel PRACH resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block SSB;

[0018] A sending module is used to send the first configuration information to the terminal.

[0019] In a fifth aspect, a terminal is provided, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented.

[0020] In the sixth aspect, a terminal is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to receive first configuration information from a network side device, the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel PRACH resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block SSB, and the processor is used to determine the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource based on the first configuration information.

[0021] In the seventh aspect, a network side device is provided, which includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores programs or instructions that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in the second aspect are implemented.

[0022] In the eighth aspect, a network side device is provided, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor is used to determine first configuration information, and the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel PRACH resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block SSB; the communication interface is used to send the first configuration information to the terminal.

[0023] In the ninth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented, or the steps of the method described in the second aspect are implemented.

[0024] In the tenth aspect, a wireless communication system is provided, comprising: a terminal and a network side device, wherein the terminal can be used to execute the steps of the method described in the first aspect, and the network side device can be used to execute the steps of the method described in the second aspect.

[0025] In the eleventh aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the method as described in the first aspect, or to implement the method as described in the second aspect.

[0026] In the twelfth aspect, a computer program / program product is provided, which is stored in a storage medium and is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the communication method described in the first aspect, or the steps of the communication method described in the second aspect.

[0027] In an embodiment of the present application, the first configuration information is sent to the terminal through the network side device, so that the terminal can determine the association result of at least one SSB to the flexible PRACH resource based on the first configuration information, and can configure at least one SSB to associate with the flexible PRACH resource, thereby realizing the flexible configuration of the association relationship between the SSB and the PRACH resource. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] FIG1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system to which embodiments of the present application may be applied;

[0029] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the mapping from SSB to RO;

[0030] FIG3 is another schematic diagram of the mapping of SSB to RO;

[0031] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the mapping of SSB to RO groups;

[0032] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG6 is a schematic flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG7A is a schematic diagram of an SSB to RO association result provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG7B is a schematic diagram of another SSB to RO association result provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG8A is a schematic diagram of another SSB to RO association result provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG8B is a schematic diagram of another SSB to RO association result provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG9A is a schematic diagram of another SSB to RO association result provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG9B is a schematic diagram of another SSB to RO association result provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG11 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a network-side device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0046] The terms "first", "second", etc. in this application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way are interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of the same type, and the number of objects is not limited. For example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "or" in this application represents at least one of the connected objects. For example, "A or B" covers three options, namely, Option 1: including A but not including B; Option 2: including B but not including A; Option 3: including both A and B. The character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0047] The term "indication" in this application can be either a direct indication (or explicit indication) or an indirect indication (or implicit indication). A direct indication can be understood as the sender explicitly informing the receiver of specific information, the operation to be performed, or the requested result, etc. in the instruction sent; an indirect indication can be understood as the receiver determining the corresponding information based on the instruction sent by the sender, or making a judgment and determining the operation to be performed or the requested result, etc. based on the judgment result.

[0048] It is worth noting that the technology described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, but can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the technology described can be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above, as well as for other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for illustrative purposes, and NR terminology is used in most of the following description, but these technologies can also be applied to systems other than NR systems, such as 6th generation (6G) systems. thGeneration, 6G) communication system.

[0049] FIG1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network-side device 12. The terminal 11 may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Tablet Personal Computer), a laptop computer (Laptop Computer), a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a mobile internet device (MID), an augmented reality (AR), a virtual reality (VR) device, a robot, a wearable device (Wearable Device), an aircraft (Flight Vehicle), a vehicle-mounted device (VUE), a ship-mounted device, a pedestrian user equipment (PUE), a smart home (home appliances with wireless communication capabilities, such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, or furniture), a game console, a personal computer (PC), an ATM, or a self-service machine, or other terminal-side devices. Wearable devices include: smart watches, smart bracelets, smart headphones, smart glasses, smart jewelry (smart bracelets, smart bracelets, smart rings, smart necklaces, smart anklets, smart anklets, etc.), smart wristbands, smart clothing, etc. Among them, the vehicle-mounted device can also be called a vehicle-mounted terminal, a vehicle-mounted controller, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted component, a vehicle-mounted chip or a vehicle-mounted unit, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. The network side device 12 may include an access network device or a core network device, wherein the access network device may also be called a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) device, a radio access network function or a radio access network unit. The access network device may include a base station, a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) node, etc.Among them, the base station can be referred to as Node B (NB), Evolved Node B (eNB), the next generation Node B (gNB), New Radio Node B (NR Node B), access point, Relay Base Station (RBS), Serving Base Station (SBS), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, Basic Service Set (BSS), Extended Service Set (ESS), Home Node B (HNB), Home Evolved Node B (home evolved Node B), Transmission Reception Point (TRP) or other appropriate terms in the field. As long as the same technical effect is achieved, the base station is not limited to specific technical vocabulary. It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, only the base station in the NR system is used as an example for introduction, and the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0050] First, the SSB to RO mapping rules involved in this application are introduced.

[0051] The 5G synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SS / PBCH block, SSB) includes the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and demodulation reference signal (DMRS). Through the cell search process, the wireless device (terminal) obtains the synchronization signal and broadcast signal / channel provided by the base station cell and performs time-frequency domain synchronization with the base station, and obtains the location of the time-frequency resources of the cell deployed by the base station in the frequency and time domains, as well as the physical cell ID.

[0052] The terminal further receives the System Information Block (SIB) 1 by receiving the SSB. SIB1 contains various parameters for initial access. The configuration parameters of the PRACH resources and the mapping rules of the SSB to the RO are configured in the System Information Block (SIB) 1. In the NR system, the cell can configure multiple FDM ROs at a time domain position for transmitting PRACH. At a time, the number of ROs that can perform FDM can be: {1, 2, 4, 8}, which is configured and determined by the high-level parameter msg1-FDM.

[0053] The random access preamble can only be transmitted on the time domain resources configured by the parameter PRACHConfigurationIndex and the frequency domain resources configured by the parameter msg1-FDM. RA ∈{0,1,…,M-1}, where M is equal to the higher-layer parameter msg1-FDM. During initial access, PRACH frequency-domain resources are numbered in ascending order, starting with the lowest-frequency RO resource within the initial active uplink bandwidth part. Otherwise, PRACH frequency-domain resources are numbered in ascending order, starting with the lowest-frequency RO resource within the active uplink bandwidth part. For example, in Figure 2, the number of FDM ROs at a given moment is 8 (msg1-FDM=8), and the RO resources are numbered from low to high frequency, RO#0 to RO#7.

[0054] In the NR system, there is an association between the RO and the actual transmitted SSB. ROs are associated with SSBs in the frequency domain (from low frequency to high frequency) and then in the time domain. One SSB may be associated with multiple consecutive ROs, or multiple SSBs may be associated with one RO (in this case, different SSBs correspond to different preambles). This is configured by the network using the parameter ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB.

[0055] For example, oneEighth means that an SSB is associated with 8 consecutive ROs, eight means that 8 SSBs are associated with one RO, and {n4, n8, n12, ...} represents the number of consecutive preambles associated with an SSB on an RO. For example, the value n4 means that the number of consecutive preambles associated with an SSB on an RO is 4, and n8 means that the number of consecutive preambles associated with an SSB on an RO is 4.

[0056] After all SSBs have completed one round of association with the RO, an SSB-RO mapping cycle is formed. An SSB-RO association period may include one or more SSB-RO mapping cycles. An SSB-RO association pattern period may include one or more SSB-RO association periods. The SSB-RO mapping is repeated based on the association pattern period, and the maximum association pattern period is 160ms.

[0057] Typically, a base station can use different beams to transmit different SSBs, with the number of SSBs configured using the ssb-PositionsInBurst parameter. For example, for FR2, the maximum number of SSBs is 64. Based on the strength of the received downlink SSB beam, the terminal selects the RO / RO and preamble combination associated with the SSB with the best signal to send Msg1. The network then determines the SSB selected by the terminal based on the RO / RO and preamble combination of the received preamble and sends Msg2 on the downlink beam corresponding to the SSB, ensuring downlink signal reception quality.

[0058] Taking Figure 2 as an example, the number of FDM ROs at a given moment is 8, and the number of SSBs actually transmitted is 4, namely SSB#0, SSB#1, SSB#2, and SSB#3. Each SSB is associated with two ROs. If the terminal determines to send PRACH / Mg1 on the RO corresponding to SSB#0, the UE selects an RO between RO#0 and RO#1 to send the PRACH.

[0059] Taking Figure 3 as an example, the number of FDM ROs at a given moment is 2, and the number of SSBs actually transmitted is 8, namely SSB#0, SSB#1, ..., SSB#7, with one RO associated with every two SSBs. Each square in Figure 3 corresponds to a RO, not an SSB. The SSB labeled in the square refers to which SSB(s) the RO is associated with. When multiple SSBs share a RO, the preamble sets associated with the multiple SSBs are different, i.e., the same preamble cannot belong to the preamble sets associated with different SSBs at the same time. Taking RO#0 in Figure 3 as an example, RO#0 has a total of 60 preambles, of which preambles with indexes 0 to 29 are associated with SSB#0, and preambles with indexes 30 to 59 are associated with SSB#1.

[0060] Before transmitting a PRACH, the terminal first selects a received beam (SSB) with a RSRP above a threshold based on the RSRP of the SSB. If multiple SSBs have RSRPs above the threshold, the terminal selects any SSB with RSRP above the threshold. If no SSB has RSRP above the threshold, the terminal selects an SSB based on implementation.

[0061] Based on the configuration of the network, the terminal can obtain the correspondence between SSB and RO. After selecting the SSB, the RO corresponding to the selected SSB is used as the RO for sending PRACH / Preamble / Msg1. If the selected SSB is associated with multiple ROs, the terminal can select one of the ROs to send PRACH / Preamble / Msg1. For example: in the example shown in Figure 2, assuming that the terminal selects SSB#1, the terminal can select one from RO#2 and RO#3 to send PRACH / Msg1; in the example shown in Figure 3, if the terminal selects SSB#1, the terminal can select the available RO closest to the current time among the ROs (RO#0 or 4) associated with SSB#1 to send PRACH / Msg1. In the selected RO, the terminal selects a preamble from the preamble set associated with the selected SSB to send PRACH. As shown in Figure 3, one RO is associated with two SSBs. In the available preamble set associated with the SSB in one RO, the preamble will be divided into two subsets, each corresponding to one SSB. The terminal will select a preamble sequence in the preamble subset corresponding to the selected SSB for PRACH / Mg1 transmission.

[0062] Secondly, the RO set determination process when PRACH is repeatedly transmitted is described. PRACH repeated transmission is introduced in Rel-18 to enhance uplink coverage. For PRACH repeated transmission, the terminal needs to repeatedly send the Preamble on multiple ROs at different positions in the time domain associated with the same SSB, and the number of repetitions can be {2, 4, 8}. After the terminal determines the number of PRACH repetitions, it needs to determine the RO set. The number of valid ROs in the RO set is equal to the number of PRACH repetitions. Assuming that the number of PRACH repetitions is N1, the RO group (group) determination rule is: first determine the starting RO of the RO group, and then determine the remaining N1-1 ROs of the RO group. The remaining N1-1 ROs of each RO group are ROs that are associated with the same SSB, the same frequency position, and the same associated Preamble set as the starting RO. For example, in Figure 4, assuming that the number of PRACH repetitions is 2, for SSB#0, the RO group can be determined as follows: the first RO group (1 st RO group), the second RO group (2 st RO group), the third RO group (3 st RO group) and the 4th RO group (4 st RO group).

[0063] In the related art, the association relationship between SSB and RO is not flexible enough. For example, PRACH resources are statically configured for the current cell through RRC signaling and cannot be changed dynamically. In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), more flexible PRACH resource configurations may be performed. For example, on the basis of statically configured PRACH resources, additional flexible PRACH resources that can be dynamically activated or deactivated are configured. Alternatively, some additional flexible PRACH resources can be configured for use for a certain type of terminal. However, for the additionally configured flexible PRACH resources, how they are associated with the SSB is not configured.

[0064] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, a terminal and a network-side device, which can configure at least one synchronization signal block SSB to associate with a flexible PRACH resource, thereby flexibly configuring the association relationship between the SSB and the flexible PRACH resource, which is conducive to the association of flexible PRACH resources with SSB.

[0065] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below through some embodiments and their application scenarios in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0066] FIG5 shows an interactive diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , the communication method includes at least the following steps 510 and 520:

[0067] 510. The network device sends first configuration information to the terminal, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel (PRACH) resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block (SSB). Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first configuration information from the network device.

[0068] In an embodiment of the present application, the synchronization channel block SSB, that is, the synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SS / PBCH block, SSB), can be any module that includes at least one of the synchronization signal, broadcast signal, broadcast channel (PBCH) and other system message downlink broadcast channels.

[0069] In the embodiment of the present application, the PRACH resource includes a PRACH transmission opportunity (PRACH transmission occasion), also known as a PRACH opportunity (RO). The RO includes at least one preamble. In other embodiments, the PRACH resource includes a preamble.

[0070] In the embodiment of the present application, flexible PRACH resources refer to PRACH resources that are additionally dynamically configured and can be flexibly activated and deactivated, relative to the statically configured PRACH resources in the related art. Exemplarily, flexible PRACH resources may include flexible ROs, or preambles on flexible ROs. Alternatively, relative to the PRACH resources configured in the related art, flexible PRACH resources are PRACH resources located in different frequency bands, or PRACH resources for different service types, or PRACH resources for different terminal types, etc., without limitation.

[0071] Among them, one SSB can be associated with at least one RO in the flexible PRACH resource, or one RO in the flexible PRACH resource can be associated with at least one SSB, or one SSB can be associated with all or part of the preamble on the flexible PRACH resource. This embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0072] 520. The terminal determines, based on the first configuration information, an association result of at least one SSB to a PRACH resource. The association result of at least one SSB to a PRACH resource may include a flexible PRACH resource associated with at least one SSB.

[0073] Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, the first configuration information is sent to the terminal through the network side device, so that the terminal can determine the association result of at least one SSB to the flexible PRACH resource based on the first configuration information, and can configure at least one SSB to associate with the flexible PRACH resource, thereby realizing the flexible configuration of the association relationship between the SSB and the PRACH resource.

[0074] In some embodiments, the first configuration information includes at least one of an SSB parameter, a PRACH resource set, and an association relationship between an SSB and a flexible PRACH resource.

[0075] Exemplarily, the SSB parameters include at least one of the following:

[0076] Maximum number of SSBs, number of SSBs used in the current cell, at least one SSB used in the current cell, number of SSBs associated with flexible PRACH resources, at least one SSB associated with flexible PRACH resources.

[0077] Among them, the at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource can be all or part of the at least one SSB used in the current cell, and this application is not limited to this. In other words, all or part of the SSBs in the at least one SSB used in the current cell can be configured to be associated with the flexible PRACH resource (i.e., using the flexible PRACH resource).

[0078] For example, the number of SSBs used in the current cell is When, for the N1 SSBs out of 10 SSBs can be associated with flexible PRACH resources. N1 is less than or equal to A positive integer. Optionally, N1 can be configured by the network or specified by the protocol. Optionally, based on a predefined rule (such as a network indication or protocol specification), it can be indicated that the first N1 SSBs of all currently available SSBs are associated with flexible PRACH resources, or the last N1 SSBs are associated with flexible PRACH resources, or odd-numbered SSBs are associated with flexible PRACH resources, or even-numbered SSBs are associated with flexible PRACH resources, etc. This application does not limit this.

[0079] As a specific example, the current cell uses 8 SSBs, namely {SSB#0, SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, SSB#4, SSB#5, SSB#6, SSB#7}. For a configured flexible PRACH resource set, such as flexible RO set#0, the association result can be determined together with all SSBs. Alternatively, flexible RO set#0 can determine the association result only for specific N1 SSBs. Optionally, the N1 SSBs can be the first 4 SSBs of the 8 SSBs. Wherein, N1 is a positive integer less than or equal to 8.

[0080] Optionally, the first configuration information may further include bitmap information, where the bitmap information is used to indicate at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource. For example, 1 may indicate that the flexible PRACH resource is associated with the corresponding SSB, and 0 may indicate that the flexible PRACH resource is not associated with the corresponding SSB. Then the bitmap information [10101010] indicates that an odd number of SSBs are associated with the flexible PRACH resource.

[0081] Exemplarily, the PRACH resource set refers to a currently available PRACH resource set, including at least one of RO resources and Preamble resources.

[0082] Exemplary, the association relationship between SSBs and flexible PRACH resources, i.e., the mapping relationship between SSBs and flexible PRACH resources. Optionally, the association relationship between SSBs and flexible PRACH resources may include at least one of the number of consecutive ROs associated with an SSB, the number of SSBs associated on each RO, and the number of preambles associated with each SSB on an RO.

[0083] In some embodiments, the terminal may also receive a first activation signal from the network-side device, where the first activation signal is used to activate the flexible PRACH resource. Correspondingly, the network-side device sends the first activation signal to the terminal.

[0084] Specifically, the configured flexible PRACH resources may be inactivated by default, and the flexible PRACH resources may be activated for use. Specifically, the network side device may activate the configured flexible PRACH resources by sending a first activation signal to the terminal.

[0085] As an implementable method, the network side device can send signaling to the terminal, which is used to indicate a first activation signal. The signaling may include at least one of radio resource control (RRC), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0086] Optionally, the configured flexible PRACH resources may be activated by default, and in this case, the flexible PRACH resources can be used without being activated.

[0087] Optionally, the network side device may send a deactivation signal to the terminal, instructing the terminal to deactivate the flexible PRACH resource. The terminal does not use the deactivated flexible PRACH resource for PRACH transmission.

[0088] In some embodiments, the terminal may further receive a second activation signal from the network-side device, where the second activation signal is used to activate a first portion of the flexible PRACH resources. Correspondingly, the network-side device sends the second activation signal to the terminal.

[0089] Specifically, the configured flexible PRACH resources are inactivated by default, and the flexible PRACH resources can be partially activated. Specifically, the network side device can activate the configured partial flexible PRACH resources by sending a second activation signal to the terminal.

[0090] In some embodiments, the terminal may further receive a third activation signal from a network-side device, where the third activation signal is used to activate a second portion of flexible PRACH resources in the flexible PRACH resources; wherein the second portion of flexible PRACH resources at least partially overlaps with the first portion of flexible PRACH resources, or the second portion of flexible PRACH resources does not overlap with the first portion of flexible PRACH resources. Accordingly, the network-side device sends the third activation signal to the terminal.

[0091] Specifically, the configured flexible PRACH resources are inactivated by default, and the flexible PRACH resources can be partially activated multiple times. For example, activation signal #1 (an example of a second activation signal) can activate the first part of the flexible PRACH resource set subset #1 (such as the first 25% of the resources), and activation signal #2 (an example of a third activation signal) can activate the second part of the flexible PRACH resource set subset #2 (such as the first 25% of the resources).

[0092] As an implementable manner, the network side device may send signaling to the terminal, where the signaling is used to indicate at least one of the first activation signal and the second activation signal, and the signal may include at least one of RRC, PDCCH, and MAC CE.

[0093] Optionally, the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources correspond to different SSB to PRACH resource associations, or correspond to the same SSB to PRACH resource associations, which is not limited in this application.

[0094] For example, for the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources, the corresponding SSB to PRACH resource association relationship can be configured together, such as using the same SSB to flexible PRACH resource association relationship. For example, for the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources, the number of flexible ROs associated with each SSB can be configured to be 1.

[0095] For example, for the first part of the soul PRACH resources and the second part of the flexible PRACH resources, the corresponding SSB to PRACH resource association relationships can be configured as different SSB to flexible PRACH resource association relationships. For example, for the first part of the flexible PRACH resources, the number of flexible ROs associated with each SSB can be configured to be 1; for the second part of the flexible PRACH resources, the number of flexible ROs associated with each SSB can be configured to be 2.

[0096] In some embodiments, when the resources overlapping the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources include the third part of flexible PRACH resources, the SSB associated with the third part of flexible PRACH resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the PRACH resources is the same as the SSB associated with the third part of flexible resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the second part of flexible PRACH resources and the PRACH resources, and the preamble code set associated with the SSB on the third part of flexible PRACH resources is the same.

[0097] For example, continuing with the above example, when activation signal #1 activates the first part of the flexible PRACH resource set subset #1 (such as the first 25% of flexible PRACH resources), and activation signal #2 activates the second part of the flexible PRACH resource set subset #2 (such as the first 50% of flexible PRACH resources), the intersection of the two activated resource sets is the first 25% of resources, then the first 25% of resources is an example of the above-mentioned third part of flexible PRACH resources. In an embodiment of the present application, when the third activation signal activates sub-set #2, the SSB associated with the third part of the flexible PRACH resources obtained by the terminal according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to sub-set #1 and the PRACH resource is the same as the SSB associated with the third part of the flexible resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to sub-set #2 and the PRACH resource, and this part of the SSB is associated with the same preamble set on the overlapping PRACH resources. That is to say, after activation signal #1 activates sub-set #1, when activation signal #2 activates sub-set #2, the association result of the SSB of the third part of the flexible PRACH resource to the PRACH resource does not change, that is, the SSB corresponding to the third part of the flexible PRACH resource can be uniquely determined, and the preamble set associated with the SSB on the third part of the flexible PRACH resource remains unchanged.

[0098] In one possible scenario, when the network-side device sends the second activation signal and the third activation signal, some terminals may only receive one activation signal and lose the other activation signal. For example, when the network-side device successively sends activation signal #1 to activate sub-set #1 (such as the first 25% of flexible PRACH resources), and activation signal #2 to activate sub-set #2 (such as the first 50% of flexible PRACH resources), the terminal that does not correctly decode activation signal #2 will believe that only the first 25% of flexible PRACH resources are activated, while other terminals will believe that the first 50% of flexible PRACH resources are activated. When two types of terminals use the first 25% of flexible PRACH resources belonging to the intersection to send PRACH, since the association result of the SSB of the first 25% of flexible PRACH resources to the PRACH resources does not change, that is, the SSB corresponding to the first 25% of flexible PRACH resources can be uniquely determined, and the preamble set associated with the SSB on the first 25% of flexible PRACH resources remains unchanged, the network side device can uniquely determine the SSB corresponding to the first 25% of flexible PRACH resources, thereby improving the reliability of PRACH transmission.

[0099] In some embodiments, the association relationship between multiple SSBs and flexible PRACH resources or part of the flexible PRACH resources can also be configured, for example, it can be specified by the network configuration or protocol, and this application does not limit this.

[0100] In some embodiments, when configuring association relationships between multiple SSBs and flexible PRACH resources or part of the flexible PRACH resources, the network device may also send a fourth activation signal to the terminal, where the fourth activation signal is used to activate a currently used association relationship.

[0101] As an implementable manner, the network side device may send signaling to the terminal, where the signaling is used to indicate the fourth activation signal, and the signal may include at least one of RRC, PDCCH, and MAC CE.

[0102] In some embodiments, referring to FIG6 , method 500 may further include steps 530 and 540:

[0103] 530. The network device sends second configuration information to the terminal, where the second configuration information is used to configure a static PRACH resource associated with at least one SSB. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the second configuration information from the network device.

[0104] Exemplarily, a static PRACH resource may include a static RO, or a preamble on a static RO, without limitation. An SSB association may be associated with at least one RO, or an RO may be associated with at least one SSB, or an SSB may be associated with all or part of the preamble on an RO, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0105] Among them, the at least one SSB associated with the static PRACH resource can be all or part of the at least one SSB used by the current cell, and this application is not limited to this. That is, all or part of the SSBs in the at least one SSB used by the current cell can be configured to be associated with the static PRACH resource (i.e., using the static PRACH resource).

[0106] Optionally, at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource may be the same as, partially the same as, or completely different from, at least one SSB associated with the static PRACH resource, and this application does not limit this. For example, the number of SSBs used in the current cell is Should N2 SSBs out of 10 SSBs are associated to static PRACH resources. N2 is less than or equal to Optionally, N2 may be configured by the network or specified by the protocol. Optionally, N2 SSBs among all currently available SSBs may be indicated to be associated with flexible PRACH resources based on predefined rules (such as network instructions or protocol specifications).

[0107] Optionally, the second configuration information may further include bitmap information, where the bitmap information is used to indicate at least one SSB associated with the static PRACH resource. Specifically, the bitmap information is similar to the bitmap information in the first configuration information, and reference may be made to the description above, which will not be repeated here.

[0108] Optionally, the PRACH resource set may further include at least one currently available static PRACH resource.

[0109] In some embodiments, the second configuration information includes an association relationship between SSB and static PRACH resources.

[0110] Exemplary, the association relationship between SSBs and static PRACH resources, i.e., the mapping relationship between SSBs and static PRACH resources. Optionally, the association relationship between SSBs and static PRACH resources may include at least one of the number of consecutive ROs in the static PRACH resource associated with an SSB, or the number of SSBs associated on each RO, and the number of preambles associated with each SSB on an RO.

[0111] 540. The terminal determines an association result of at least one SSB to a PRACH resource based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0112] Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, the second configuration information is sent to the terminal through the network side device, so that the terminal can determine the association result of at least one SSB to the static PRACH resource based on the second configuration information, and can configure at least one SSB to associate with the static PRACH resource, thereby realizing flexible configuration of the association relationship between the SSB and the RACH resource.

[0113] In some embodiments, step 540 may specifically include:

[0114] The terminal maps at least one SSB in a first PRACH resource set to obtain an association result of at least one SSB to a PRACH resource; wherein the first PRACH resource set includes at least one flexible PRACH resource set and at least one static PRACH resource set.

[0115] That is to say, the association result of SSB to PRACH resources can be determined together for the configured flexible PRACH resources and static PRACH resources. When determining the association result of SSB to PRACH resources, the flexible PRACH resource set and the static PRACH resource set may correspond to the same association relationship of SSB to PRACH resources, or the flexible PRACH resource set and the static PRACH resource set may correspond to different association relationships of SSB to PRACH resources, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0116] For example, Figure 7A illustrates a schematic diagram of determining the SSB-to-PRACH resource association results for four SSBs in a PRACH resource set. The PRACH resource set includes a static RO set (static RO set #1) and a flexible RO set (flexible RO set #2). For example, white squares represent static ROs, and gray squares represent flexible ROs. Both the static RO set and the flexible RO set have identical SSB-to-PRACH resource associations, with each SSB associated with one RO. Therefore, the SSB-to-RO association results can be determined for these four SSBs in both static RO set #1 and flexible RO set #2. As shown in Figure 7A, static RO set #1 sequentially associates the four SSBs, i.e., SSB #1, SSB #2, SSB #3, and SSB #4, in order from low frequency to high frequency and in time. Flexible RO set #2 sequentially associates the four SSBs, i.e., SSB #1, SSB #2, SSB #3, and SSB #4, in order from low frequency to high frequency, and in time. Flexible RO set #2 sequentially associates the four SSBs, i.e., SSB #1, SSB #2, SSB #3, and SSB #4, in order from low frequency to high frequency, and so on. Each square represents a RO instead of an SSB, and the SSB marked in the RO refers to the SSB associated with the RO.

[0117] In some embodiments, a first index can be determined in sequence for at least one SSB, and a first order can be determined for each RO in a first PRACH resource set (including a flexible PRACH resource set and a static PRACH set); then, according to the first index and the first order, at least one SSB is mapped to the RO in the first PRACH resource set to obtain an association result of at least one SSB to a PRACH resource.

[0118] For example, Figure 7B shows a schematic diagram of determining the association results of four SSBs to PRACH resources in a PRACH resource set. The SSBs and PRACH resource set in Figure 7B are the same as those in Figure 7A. In Figure 7B, the indexes of the four SSBs can also be determined in sequence, such as SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, and SSB#4, and the order of each RO in the PRACH resource set can be determined in sequence, such as RO#1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12. The SSB-to-RO association results of these four SSBs are determined in both static RO set#1 and flexible RO set#2. As shown in Figure 7B, RO#1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 are sequentially associated with four SSBs, namely, SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, SSB#4, and so on. Each square represents a RO instead of an SSB, and the SSB marked in the RO refers to the SSB associated with the RO.

[0119] In some embodiments, the terminal may also determine at least one of a first mapping period, a first association period, and a first association mode period, wherein the first mapping period is a period for associating at least one SSB to a first PRACH resource set, the first association period includes at least one first mapping period, and the first association mode period includes at least one first association period.

[0120] Here, the first mapping period, the first association period, or the first association pattern period is a common value for the time period during which different types of PRACH resources are associated with at least one SSB. For example, as shown in FIG7A or FIG7B , the first mapping period is a period for associating four SSBs in one round.

[0121] Optionally, the first association mode period is a period that enables the association relationship between at least one SSB and the RO to form a repeatable pattern. Optionally, the first association mode period does not exceed a maximum time specified by the protocol.

[0122] Optionally, the terminal may further determine a first time window based on at least one of a first mapping period, a first association period, and a first association pattern period; wherein the first time window is an integer multiple of the first mapping period, the first association period, or the first association pattern period. The terminal may then send a signal to the network-side device within the first time window based on the association result of at least one SSB to a PRACH resource. Exemplarily, the signal may include a PRACH.

[0123] That is, when different types of PRACH resources together determine the association result with the SSB, the different types of PRACH resources can together determine a common first time window, and select the corresponding PRACH resource within the common first time window to send a signal to the network side device. By setting the terminal to send a signal in the first time window, it is helpful to ensure that there are sufficient PRACH resources within the window for the terminal to select to send a signal.

[0124] In other embodiments, the first time window may include at least one first mapping period or first association period or first association mode period. In this case, the first time window can ensure that there are sufficient PRACH resources for selection within the window, and it does not need to be an integer multiple of the first mapping period or the first association period or the first association mode period.

[0125] In some embodiments, step 540 may include:

[0126] The terminal performs SSB to PRACH resource mapping in the second PRACH resource set according to the association relationship between the SSB and the PRACH resource corresponding to the second PRACH resource set, and obtains at least one SSB to PRACH resource association result; the second PRACH resource set includes at least one flexible PRACH resource set; and

[0127] In the third PRACH resource set, the terminal maps the SSB to the PRACH resource according to the association relationship between the SSB and the PRACH resource corresponding to the third PRACH resource set, and obtains at least one SSB to PRACH resource association result; the third PRACH resource set includes at least one static PRACH resource set.

[0128] That is to say, the association results of SSB to PRACH resources can be determined separately for the configured flexible PRACH resources and static PRACH resources. Among them, the association relationship between SSB and PRACH resources corresponding to the flexible PRACH resource set and the static PRACH resource set can be independent of each other. The two can correspond to the same association relationship between SSB and PRACH resources, or different association relationships between SSB and PRACH resources. This application does not limit this.

[0129] For example, Figure 8A shows a schematic diagram of determining the SSB-to-PRACH resource association results for four SSBs in a PRACH resource set. The PRACH resource set includes a static RO set (static RO set #1) and a flexible RO set (flexible RO set #2). For example, white squares represent static ROs, and gray squares represent flexible ROs. In static RO set #1, each SSB is associated with one RO, while in flexible RO set #2, each SSB is associated with two ROs. Therefore, the SSB-to-RO association results can be determined separately for these four SSBs in static RO set #1 and flexible RO set #2. As shown in Figure 8A, static RO set #1 is associated with four SSBs (one SSB is associated with one RO) in descending order of frequency and time, namely, SSB #1, SSB #2, SSB #3, and SSB #4. Flexible RO set #2 is associated with four SSBs (one SSB is associated with two ROs) in descending order of frequency and time, namely, SSB #1, SSB #2, SSB #3, and SSB #4. Each square represents an RO, not an SSB. The SSB marked in an RO refers to the SSB associated with the RO.

[0130] In some embodiments, a first index can be determined for at least one SSB in sequence, a first order can be determined for each RO in a second PRACH resource set (such as a flexible PRACH resource set), and a second order can be determined for each RO in a third PRACH resource set (such as a static PRACH set); then, at least one SSB is mapped to the RO in the second PRACH resource set according to the first index and the first order, and at least one SSB is mapped to the RO in the third PRACH resource set according to the first index and the second order, to obtain an association result of at least one SSB to a PRACH resource.

[0131] For example, Figure 8B shows a schematic diagram of determining the association results of SSBs to PRACH resources for four SSBs on a PRACH resource set. The SSBs and PRACH resource set in Figure 8B are the same as those in Figure 8A. In Figure 8B, the indexes of the four SSBs can also be determined sequentially, such as SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, and SSB#4, and the order of each RO in static RO set#1 can be determined sequentially, such as RO#1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8, and the order of each RO in flexible RO set#2 can be determined sequentially, such as RO#1 / 2 / 3 / 4. The SSB-to-RO association results are determined separately for the four SSBs on static RO set#1 and flexible RO set#2. As shown in Figure 8B , RO#1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 in static RO set#1 are sequentially associated with four SSBs (one SSB is associated with one RO), namely SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, SSB#4, and so on. RO#1 / 2 / 3 / 4 in flexible RO set#2 are sequentially associated with four SSBs (one SSB is associated with two ROs), namely SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, SSB#4, and so on. Each square represents an RO, not an SSB. The SSB marked in an RO refers to the SSB associated with the RO.

[0132] In some embodiments, the terminal may further determine at least one of a second mapping period, a second association period, and a second association pattern period, wherein the second mapping period is a period for associating at least one SSB to a second PRACH resource set for one round, the second association period includes at least one second mapping period, and the second association pattern period includes at least one second association period; and

[0133] Determine at least one of a third mapping period, a third association period, and a third association mode period; wherein the third mapping period is a period for associating at least one SSB to a third PRACH resource set, the third association period includes at least one third mapping period, and the third association mode period includes at least one of the third association periods.

[0134] Specifically, when different types of PRACH resources are associated with SSBs, the various time periods for associating the SSBs with the ROs for the different types of PRACH resources are determined separately. For example, in Figures 8A and 8B , for static RO set #1, the SSB-to-RO mapping period is the period during which all four SSBs in static RO set #1 are associated in one cycle; for flexible RO set #2, the SSB-to-RO mapping period is the period during which all four SSBs in flexible RO set #2 are associated in one cycle.

[0135] Optionally, the second association mode period and the third association mode period are periods for making the association relationship between at least one SSB and the RO form a repeatable pattern. Optionally, the second association mode period and the third association mode period do not exceed the maximum time specified in the protocol.

[0136] Optionally, the terminal may further determine a second time window based on at least one of a second mapping period, a second association period, and a second association pattern period; and determine a third time window based on at least one of a third mapping period, a third association period, and a third association pattern period. The terminal may then send a signal to the network device within the second time window based on the association result of at least one SSB to a flexible PRACH resource; or send a signal to the network-side device within the third time window based on the association result of at least one SSB to a static PRACH resource. Setting the terminal to send a signal in the second time window or the third time window can help ensure that there are sufficient PRACH resources within the window for the terminal to select to send a signal. Exemplarily, the signal may include PRACH.

[0137] That is, when different types of PRACH resources determine their association results with the SSB, different types of PRACH resources can determine different time windows, such as the second time window and the third time window, and select corresponding PRACH resources within their respective time windows to send signals to the network-side device. By setting the terminal to send signals in the corresponding time window, it is helpful to ensure that there are sufficient PRACH resources within the window for the terminal to select and send signals.

[0138] In other embodiments, the second time window may include at least one second mapping period or second association period or second association mode period, and the third time window may include at least one third mapping period or third association period or third association mode period. In this case, the second time window or the third time period can ensure that there are sufficient PRACH resources within the window for selection, and it does not need to be an integer multiple of the corresponding mapping period or association period or association mode period.

[0139] In some embodiments, the terminal may further determine a fourth time window based on at least one of the maximum mapping period of the second mapping period and the third mapping period, the maximum association period of the second association period and the third association period, and the maximum association pattern period of the second association pattern period and the third association pattern period. The terminal then sends a signal to the network device within the fourth time window based on the association result of at least one SSB to the flexible PRACH resource, or sends a signal to the network device within the fourth time window based on the association result of at least one SSB to the static PRACH resource.

[0140] That is to say, when different types of PRACH resources respectively determine the association results with the SSB, different types of PRACH resources can determine the same time window, and the same time window can be determined by selecting the maximum time period according to the various time periods associated with the SSB to each PRACH resource set, for example, it can be an integer multiple of the maximum mapping period, the maximum association period, and the maximum association mode period, or it can include the maximum mapping period, the maximum association period, and the maximum association mode period (rather than the maximum mapping period, the maximum association period, and the maximum association mode period). The embodiment of the present application does not limit this. By setting the terminal to send a signal in the corresponding time window, it can be beneficial to ensure that there are sufficient PRACH resources in the window for the terminal to select to send a signal.

[0141] In some embodiments, the flexible PRACH resource and the static PRACH resource satisfy at least one of the following:

[0142] Flexible PRACH resources are associated with PRACH resources in the same frequency domain position and closest time domain distance among static PRACH resources;

[0143] Flexible PRACH resources are associated with PRACH resources in the same time domain position and with the closest frequency domain distance among static PRACH resources;

[0144] The flexible PRACH resource and the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource to which the flexible PRACH resource is associated are the same;

[0145] The SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource is a subsequent SSB of the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource associated with the flexible PRACH resource.

[0146] Exemplarily, the subsequent SSB of an SSB refers to the SSB corresponding to the next index. For example, if the current SSB is SSB#1 (index 1), the subsequent SSB is SSB#2 (index 2). For the SSB corresponding to the last index in a group of SSBs, its subsequent index is the SSB corresponding to the first index in the group of SSBs. For example, if the current SSB is {SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, SSB#4}, the subsequent SSB of SSB#4 is SSB#1.

[0147] In an embodiment of the present application, by configuring the flexible PRACH resource to be the same as the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource associated with the flexible PRACH resource, the number of PRACH resources corresponding to certain specific SSBs can be increased, which is conducive to meeting the PRACH resource needs of the specific SSB.

[0148] For example, Figure 9A shows a schematic diagram of the association result of 4 SSBs to PRACH resources on a PRACH resource set. The PRACH resource set includes a static RO set (static RO set#1) and a flexible RO set (flexible RO set#2). For example, white squares represent static ROs and gray squares represent flexible ROs. Each SSB in static RO set#1 is associated with two ROs. Flexible RO set#2 is associated with the RO with the same frequency domain position and the closest time domain distance in static RO set#1, as shown by the dotted arrow in Figure 9A. Then, the flexible RO in flexible RO set#2 is associated with the same SSB as the static RO associated with it in static RO set#1. Each square represents an RO instead of an SSB, and the SSB marked in the RO refers to the SSB associated with the RO.

[0149] For another example, Figure 9B shows a schematic diagram of the results of determining the association of four SSBs to PRACH resources in a PRACH resource set. Unlike Figure 9A, in Figure 9B, the SSB associated with the flexible RO in flexible RO set #2 is the subsequent SSB of the SSB associated with the static RO in static RO set #1. For example, when the static RO in static RO set #1 is associated with SSB #3, the SSB subsequent to SSB #3 of the flexible RO associated with the static RO in flexible RO set #2 is SSB #4. For another example, when the static RO in static RO set #1 is associated with SSB #4, the SSB subsequent to SSB #4 of the flexible RO associated with the static RO in flexible RO set #2 is SSB #1.

[0150] In some embodiments, the network side device may also send signaling to the terminal, where the signaling is used to configure the association relationship between the SSB and PRACH resources corresponding to at least some of the flexible PRACH resources. Exemplarily, the signaling may include but is not limited to at least one of RRC, PDCCH, and MAC CE.

[0151] For example, when at least some flexible PRACH resources are dynamically activated, the network side device may send signaling to the terminal to reconfigure the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the at least some flexible PRACH resources and the flexible PRACH resources. For another example, the network side device may send signaling to the terminal to reconfigure the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the static PRACH resources and the static PRACH resources.

[0152] Therefore, the embodiment of the present application activates the association relationship between SSB and PRACH resources corresponding to at least part of the flexible PRACH resources, and can dynamically indicate the update of the association relationship between SSB and PRACH resources of at least part of the flexible PRACH resources, which is conducive to flexible association of SSB and flexible PRACH resources.

[0153] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be executed by a communication device. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the communication method executed by the communication device as an example.

[0154] FIG10 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. For example, the communication device 1000 may be a terminal. As shown in FIG10 , the communication device 1000 includes a receiving module 1010 and a determining module 1020.

[0155] A receiving module 1010 is configured to receive first configuration information from a network-side device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel (PRACH) resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block (SSB);

[0156] The determination module 1020 is used to determine the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource based on the first configuration information.

[0157] In an embodiment of the present application, the first configuration information is sent to the terminal through the network side device, so that the terminal can determine the association result of at least one SSB to the flexible PRACH resource based on the first configuration information, and can configure at least one SSB to associate with the flexible PRACH resource, thereby realizing the flexible configuration of the association relationship between the SSB and the PRACH resource.

[0158] In some embodiments, the first configuration information includes at least one of an SSB parameter, a PRACH resource set, and an association relationship between the SSB and the flexible PRACH resource.

[0159] In some embodiments, the SSB parameter includes at least one of the following:

[0160] The maximum number of SSBs, the number of SSBs used by the current cell, at least one SSB used by the current cell, the number of SSBs associated with the flexible PRACH resources, and at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resources.

[0161] In some embodiments, the first configuration information further includes bitmap information, and the bitmap information is used to indicate at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource.

[0162] In some embodiments, the receiving module 1010 is further configured to:

[0163] A first activation signal is received from the network-side device, where the first activation signal is used to activate the flexible PRACH resource.

[0164] In some embodiments, the receiving module 1010 is further configured to:

[0165] A second activation signal is received from the network-side device, where the second activation signal is used to activate a first part of the flexible PRACH resources in the flexible PRACH resources.

[0166] In some embodiments, the receiving module 1010 is further configured to:

[0167] Receive a third activation signal from the network side device, where the third activation signal is used to activate a second part of the flexible PRACH resources in the flexible PRACH resources; wherein the second part of the flexible PRACH resources at least partially overlaps with the first part of the flexible PRACH resources, or the second part of the flexible PRACH resources does not overlap with the first part of the flexible PRACH resources.

[0168] In some embodiments, the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources correspond to different SSB to PRACH resource association relationships, or correspond to the same SSB to PRACH resource association relationship.

[0169] In some embodiments, when the resources overlapping the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources include the third part of flexible PRACH resources, the SSB associated with the third part of flexible PRACH resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the PRACH resources is the same as the SSB associated with the third part of flexible resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the second part of flexible PRACH resources and the PRACH resources, and the preamble code set associated with the SSB on the third part of flexible PRACH resources is the same.

[0170] In some embodiments, the receiving module 1010 is further configured to:

[0171] receiving second configuration information from the network side device, where the second configuration information is used to configure a static PRACH resource associated with the at least one SSB;

[0172] The determining module 1020 is further configured to:

[0173] Determine the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0174] In some embodiments, the second configuration information includes an association relationship between the SSB and the static PRACH resource.

[0175] In some embodiments, the determination module 1020 is specifically configured to:

[0176] The terminal maps the at least one SSB in a first PRACH resource set to obtain an association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource; wherein the first PRACH resource set includes at least one flexible PRACH resource set and at least one static PRACH resource set.

[0177] In some embodiments, the flexible PRACH resource set and the static PRACH resource set correspond to the same SSB to PRACH resource association relationship, or the flexible PRACH resource set and the static PRACH resource set correspond to different SSB to PRACH resource association relationships.

[0178] In some embodiments, the determination module 1020 is further configured to:

[0179] Determine at least one of a first mapping period, a first association period, and a first association mode period, wherein the first mapping period is a period for associating the at least one SSB to the first PRACH resource set for one round, the first association period includes at least one of the first mapping periods, and the first association mode period includes at least one of the first association periods.

[0180] In some embodiments, the determination module 1020 is further configured to:

[0181] Determining a first time window according to at least one of the first mapping period, the first association period, and the first association mode period; wherein the first time window is an integer multiple of the first mapping period, the first association period, or the first association mode period;

[0182] The communication device 1000 also includes a sending module for sending a signal to the network side device within the first time window based on the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource.

[0183] In some embodiments, the determination module 1020 is specifically configured to:

[0184] The terminal performs, in a second PRACH resource set, mapping the SSB to the PRACH resource according to an association relationship between the SSB and the PRACH resource corresponding to the second PRACH resource set, to obtain an association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource; the second PRACH resource set includes at least one flexible PRACH resource set;

[0185] In the third PRACH resource set, the terminal maps the SSB to the PRACH resource according to the association relationship between the SSB and the PRACH resource corresponding to the third PRACH resource set, and obtains the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource; the third PRACH resource set includes at least one static PRACH resource set.

[0186] In some embodiments, the determination module 1020 is further configured to:

[0187] Determining at least one of a second mapping period, a second association period, and a second association pattern period, wherein the second mapping period is a period for associating the at least one SSB with the second PRACH resource set for one round, the second association period includes at least one second mapping period, and the second association pattern period includes at least one second association period;

[0188] Determine at least one of a third mapping period, a third association period, and a third association mode period; wherein the third mapping period is a period for associating the at least one SSB to the third PRACH resource set for one round, the third association period includes at least one third mapping period, and the third association mode period includes at least one third association period.

[0189] In some embodiments, the determination module 1020 is further configured to:

[0190] determining a second time window according to at least one of the second mapping period, the second association period, and the second association mode period; and determining a third time window according to at least one of the third mapping period, the third association period, and the third association mode period;

[0191] The sending module is also used to send a signal to the network device within the second time window based on the association result of the at least one SSB to the flexible PRACH resource; or to send a signal to the network side device within the third time window based on the association result of the at least one SSB to the static PRACH resource.

[0192] In some embodiments, the determination module 1020 is further configured to:

[0193] determining a fourth time window according to at least one of a maximum mapping period of the second mapping period and the third mapping period, a maximum association period of the second association period and the third association period, and a maximum association mode period of the second association mode period and the third association mode period;

[0194] The sending module is also used to send a signal to the network device within the fourth time window based on the association result of the at least one SSB to the flexible PRACH resource; or to send a signal to the network device within the fourth time window based on the association result of the at least one SSB to the static PRACH resource.

[0195] In some embodiments, the flexible PRACH resource and the static PRACH resource satisfy at least one of the following:

[0196] The flexible PRACH resource is associated with a PRACH resource in the static PRACH resource at the same frequency domain position and with the closest time domain distance;

[0197] The flexible PRACH resource is associated with a PRACH resource in the static PRACH resource having the same time domain position and the closest frequency domain distance;

[0198] The flexible PRACH resource is the same as the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource associated with the flexible PRACH resource;

[0199] The SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource is a subsequent SSB of the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource associated with the flexible PRACH resource.

[0200] In some embodiments, the receiving module 1010 is further configured to:

[0201] The terminal receives signaling from the network side device, where the signaling is used to configure an association relationship between SSB and PRACH resources corresponding to at least some of the flexible PRACH resources.

[0202] The communication device 1000 in the embodiments of the present application can be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component in an electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or chip. The electronic device can be a terminal or other device other than a terminal. For example, the terminal can include but is not limited to the types of terminal 11 listed above, and the other device can be a server, a network attached storage (NAS), etc., which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0203] The communication device 1000 provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement each process implemented by the terminal in the method embodiment of Figure 5 or Figure 6 and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described here.

[0204] FIG11 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1100 provided in an embodiment of the present application. For example, the communication device 1100 may be a network-side device. As shown in FIG11 , the communication device 1100 includes a determination module 1110 and a sending module 1120 .

[0205] A determining module 1110 is configured to determine first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel (PRACH) resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block (SSB);

[0206] The sending module 1120 is configured to send the first configuration information to the terminal.

[0207] In an embodiment of the present application, the first configuration information is sent to the terminal through the network side device, so that the terminal can determine the association result of at least one SSB to the flexible PRACH resource based on the first configuration information, and can configure at least one SSB to associate with the flexible PRACH resource, thereby realizing the flexible configuration of the association relationship between the SSB and the PRACH resource.

[0208] In some embodiments, the first configuration information includes at least one of an SSB parameter, a PRACH resource set, and an association relationship between the SSB and the flexible PRACH resource.

[0209] In some embodiments, the SSB parameter includes at least one of the following:

[0210] The maximum number of SSBs, the number of SSBs used by the current cell, at least one SSB used by the current cell, the number of SSBs associated with the flexible PRACH resources, and at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resources.

[0211] In some embodiments, the first configuration information further includes bitmap information, and the bitmap information is used to indicate at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource.

[0212] In some embodiments, the sending module 1120 is further configured to:

[0213] A first activation signal is sent to the terminal, where the first activation signal is used to activate the flexible PRACH resource.

[0214] In some embodiments, the sending module 1120 is further configured to:

[0215] A second activation signal is sent to the terminal, where the second activation signal is used to activate a first part of the flexible PRACH resources in the flexible PRACH resources.

[0216] In some embodiments, the sending module 1120 is further configured to:

[0217] A third activation signal is sent to the terminal, where the third activation signal is used to activate a second part of the flexible PRACH resources in the flexible PRACH resources; wherein the second part of the flexible PRACH resources at least partially overlaps with the first part of the flexible PRACH resources, or the second part of the flexible PRACH resources does not overlap with the first part of the flexible PRACH resources.

[0218] In some embodiments, the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources correspond to different SSB to PRACH resource association relationships, or correspond to the same SSB to PRACH resource association relationship.

[0219] In some embodiments, when the resources overlapping the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources include the third part of flexible PRACH resources, the SSB associated with the third part of flexible PRACH resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the PRACH resources is the same as the SSB associated with the third part of flexible resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the second part of flexible PRACH resources and the PRACH resources, and the preamble code set associated with the SSB on the third part of flexible PRACH resources is the same.

[0220] In some embodiments, the sending module 1120 is further configured to:

[0221] Send second configuration information to the terminal, where the second configuration information is used to configure the static PRACH resource associated with the at least one SSB.

[0222] In some embodiments, the second configuration information includes an association relationship between the SSB and the static PRACH resource.

[0223] In some embodiments, the flexible PRACH resource and the static PRACH resource satisfy at least one of the following:

[0224] The flexible PRACH resource is associated with a PRACH resource in the static PRACH resource at the same frequency domain position and with the closest time domain distance;

[0225] The flexible PRACH resource is associated with a PRACH resource in the static PRACH resource having the same time domain position and the closest frequency domain distance;

[0226] The flexible PRACH resource is the same as the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource associated with the flexible PRACH resource;

[0227] The SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource is a subsequent SSB of the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource associated with the flexible PRACH resource.

[0228] In some embodiments, the sending module 1120 is further configured to:

[0229] Send signaling to the terminal, where the signaling is used to configure an association relationship between SSB and PRACH resources corresponding to at least some of the flexible PRACH resources.

[0230] The communication device 1100 in the embodiment of the present application can be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component in an electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or chip. The electronic device can be a network-side device, or it can be a device other than a network-side device. For example, the network-side device can include, but is not limited to, the types of network-side devices 12 listed above. Other devices can be servers, network attached storage (NAS), etc., and are not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0231] The communication device 1100 provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement each process implemented by the network-side device in the method embodiment of Figure 5 or Figure 6, and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0232] As shown in Figure 12, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1200, including a processor 1201 and a memory 1202. The memory 1202 stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor 1201. For example, when the communication device 1200 is a terminal, the program or instruction, when executed by the processor 1201, implements the various steps performed by the terminal in the above-mentioned communication method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. When the communication device 1200 is a network-side device, the program or instruction, when executed by the processor 1201, implements the various steps performed by the network-side device in the above-mentioned communication method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0233] The present application also provides a terminal comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a program or instruction to implement the steps performed by the terminal in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6. This terminal embodiment corresponds to the aforementioned terminal-side method embodiment, and each implementation process and implementation method of the aforementioned method embodiment can be applied to this terminal embodiment and achieve the same technical effect. Specifically, Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal implementing an embodiment of the present application.

[0234] The terminal 1300 includes but is not limited to: a radio frequency unit 1301, a network module 1302, an audio output unit 1303, an input unit 1304, a sensor 1305, a display unit 1306, a user input unit 1307, an interface unit 1308, a memory 1309 and at least some of the components of the processor 1310.

[0235] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terminal 1300 may also include a power supply (such as a battery) to power various components. The power supply may be logically connected to the processor 1310 via a power management system, thereby enabling the power management system to manage charging, discharging, and power consumption. The terminal structure shown in FIG13 does not limit the terminal. The terminal may include more or fewer components than shown, or may combine certain components, or have different component arrangements, which will not be described in detail here.

[0236] It should be understood that in an embodiment of the present application, the input unit 1304 may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) 13041 and a microphone 13042, and the graphics processor 13041 processes the image data of a static picture or video obtained by an image capture device (such as a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. The display unit 1306 may include a display panel 13061, and the display panel 13061 may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, etc. The user input unit 1307 includes a touch panel 13071 and at least one of other input devices 13072. The touch panel 13071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 13071 may include two parts: a touch detection device and a touch controller. Other input devices 13072 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (such as volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, and an operating stick, which will not be repeated here.

[0237] In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving downlink data from a network-side device, the RF unit 1301 may transmit the data to the processor 1310 for processing. Furthermore, the RF unit 1301 may send uplink data to the network-side device. Typically, the RF unit 1301 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, an amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low-noise amplifier, a duplexer, and the like.

[0238] The memory 1309 can be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 1309 may mainly include a first storage area for storing programs or instructions and a second storage area for storing data, wherein the first storage area may store an operating system, applications or instructions required for at least one function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.). In addition, the memory 1309 may include a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DRRAM). The memory 1309 in the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0239] Processor 1310 may include one or more processing units. Optionally, processor 1310 integrates an application processor and a modem processor. The application processor primarily handles operations related to the operating system, user interface, and application programs, while the modem processor primarily processes wireless communication signals, such as a baseband processor. It is understood that the modem processor may not be integrated into processor 1310.

[0240] Among them, the radio frequency unit 1301 is used to receive first configuration information from a network side device, and the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel PRACH resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block SSB.

[0241] Processor 1310 is used to determine the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource based on the first configuration information.

[0242] In an embodiment of the present application, the first configuration information is sent to the terminal through the network side device, so that the terminal can determine the association result of at least one SSB to the flexible PRACH resource based on the first configuration information, and can configure at least one SSB to associate with the flexible PRACH resource, thereby realizing the flexible configuration of the association relationship between the SSB and the PRACH resource.

[0243] It can be understood that the implementation process of each implementation method mentioned in this embodiment can refer to the relevant description of the method embodiment and achieve the same or corresponding technical effects. To avoid repetition, it will not be described here.

[0244] The present application also provides a network-side device, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a program or instruction to implement the steps performed by the network-side device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6. This network-side device embodiment corresponds to the aforementioned network-side device method embodiment, and each implementation process and implementation method of the aforementioned method embodiment is applicable to this network-side device embodiment and can achieve the same technical effects.

[0245] Specifically, embodiments of the present application also provide a network-side device. As shown in Figure 14, network-side device 1400 includes an antenna 141, a radio frequency device 142, a baseband device 143, a processor 144, and a memory 145. Antenna 141 is connected to radio frequency device 142. In the uplink direction, radio frequency device 142 receives information via antenna 141 and sends the received information to baseband device 143 for processing. In the downlink direction, baseband device 143 processes the information to be transmitted and sends it to radio frequency device 142. Radio frequency device 142 processes the received information and then sends it through antenna 141.

[0246] The method executed by the network-side device in the above embodiment may be implemented in the baseband device 143 , which includes a baseband processor.

[0247] The baseband device 143 may include, for example, at least one baseband board, on which multiple chips are arranged, as shown in Figure 14, one of the chips is, for example, a baseband processor, which is connected to the memory 145 through a bus interface to call the program in the memory 145 to execute the network device operations shown in the above method embodiment.

[0248] The network side device may further include a network interface 146 , which is, for example, a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI).

[0249] Specifically, the network side device 1400 of the embodiment of the present application also includes: instructions or programs stored in the memory 145 and executable on the processor 144. The processor 144 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 145 to execute the steps executed by the network side device in the method executed by each module shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6, and achieves the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, they will not be described here.

[0250] An embodiment of the present application also provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the various processes corresponding to the terminal of the above-mentioned communication method embodiment are implemented, and the same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0251] The processor is the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk. In some examples, the readable storage medium may be a non-transitory readable storage medium.

[0252] An embodiment of the present application also provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the various processes corresponding to the network side device of the above-mentioned communication method embodiment are implemented, and the same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0253] The processor is the processor in the network-side device described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk. In some examples, the readable storage medium may be a non-transitory readable storage medium.

[0254] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the various processes corresponding to the terminal of the above-mentioned communication method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0255] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the various processes corresponding to the network side device of the above-mentioned communication method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0256] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0257] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program / program product, which is stored in a storage medium. The computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the various processes corresponding to the terminal of the above-mentioned communication method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0258] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program / program product, which is stored in a storage medium. The computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the various processes corresponding to the network-side device of the above-mentioned communication method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0259] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including: a terminal and a network side device, wherein the terminal can be used to execute the steps executed by the terminal in the communication method described above, and the network side device can be used to execute the steps executed by the network side device in the communication method described above.

[0260] It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "comprise", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprises a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element. In addition, it should be pointed out that the scope of the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, and may also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in the opposite order according to the functions involved. For example, the described method may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may also be added, omitted or combined. In addition, the features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

[0261] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by means of a computer software product plus a necessary general-purpose hardware platform, or of course, by hardware. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM, RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc.) and includes a number of instructions for enabling a terminal or network-side device to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0262] The embodiments of the present application are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific implementation methods. The above-mentioned specific implementation methods are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of this application, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms of implementation methods without departing from the purpose of this application and the scope of protection of the claims. These implementation methods are all within the protection of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, wherein: include: The terminal receives first configuration information from a network side device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel PRACH resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block SSB; The terminal determines the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource based on the first configuration information.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first configuration information includes at least one of an SSB parameter, a PRACH resource set, and an association relationship between the SSB and the flexible PRACH resource.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The SSB parameters include at least one of the following: The maximum number of SSBs, the number of SSBs used by the current cell, at least one SSB used by the current cell, the number of SSBs associated with the flexible PRACH resources, and at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resources.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The first configuration information also includes bitmap information, and the bitmap information is used to indicate at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: Also includes: The terminal receives a first activation signal from the network side device, where the first activation signal is used to activate the flexible PRACH resource.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: Also includes: The terminal receives a second activation signal from the network side device, where the second activation signal is used to activate a first part of the flexible PRACH resources in the flexible PRACH resources.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: Also includes: The terminal receives a third activation signal from the network side device, and the third activation signal is used to activate a second part of flexible PRACH resources in the flexible PRACH resources; wherein the second part of flexible PRACH resources at least partially overlaps with the first part of flexible PRACH resources, or the second part of flexible PRACH resources does not overlap with the first part of flexible PRACH resources.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources correspond to different SSB to PRACH resource associations, or correspond to the same SSB to PRACH resource associations.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein: When the resources overlapping the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources include the third part of flexible PRACH resources, the SSB associated with the third part of flexible PRACH resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the PRACH resources is the same as the SSB associated with the third part of flexible resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the second part of flexible PRACH resources and the PRACH resources, and the preamble code set associated with the SSB on the third part of flexible PRACH resources is the same.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein: Also includes: The terminal receives second configuration information from the network side device, where the second configuration information is used to configure a static PRACH resource associated with the at least one SSB; The terminal determines the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The second configuration information includes an association relationship between the SSB and the static PRACH resource.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein: The terminal determines, according to the first configuration information and the second configuration information, a result of associating the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource, including: The terminal maps the at least one SSB in a first PRACH resource set to obtain an association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource; wherein the first PRACH resource set includes at least one flexible PRACH resource set and at least one static PRACH resource set.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The flexible PRACH resource set and the static PRACH resource set correspond to the same association relationship from SSB to PRACH resources, or the flexible PRACH resource set and the static PRACH resource set correspond to different association relationships from SSB to PRACH resources.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein: Also includes: Determine at least one of a first mapping period, a first association period, and a first association mode period, wherein the first mapping period is a period for associating the at least one SSB to the first PRACH resource set for one round, the first association period includes at least one of the first mapping periods, and the first association mode period includes at least one of the first association periods.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: Also includes: Determine a first time window according to at least one of the first mapping period, the first association period, and the first association mode period; wherein the first time window is an integer multiple of the first mapping period, the first association period, or the first association mode period; The terminal sends a signal to the network side device within the first time window according to the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource.

16. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein: The terminal determines, according to the first configuration information and the second configuration information, a result of associating the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource, including: The terminal performs SSB to PRACH resource mapping in the second PRACH resource set according to the association relationship between the SSB and the PRACH resource corresponding to the second PRACH resource set, and obtains the association result of the at least one SSB to the PRACH resource; the second PRACH resource set includes at least one flexible PRACH resource set; In the third PRACH resource set, the terminal maps SSB to PRACH resources according to the association relationship between SSB and PRACH resources corresponding to the third PRACH resource set, and obtains the association result of at least one SSB to PRACH resource; the third PRACH resource set includes at least one static PRACH resource set.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein: Also includes: Determine at least one of a second mapping period, a second association period, and a second association mode period, wherein the second mapping period is a period for associating the at least one SSB to the second PRACH resource set for one round, the second association period includes at least one second mapping period, and the second association mode period includes at least one second association period; Determine at least one of a third mapping period, a third association period, and a third association mode period; wherein the third mapping period is a period for associating the at least one SSB to the third PRACH resource set for one round, the third association period includes at least one of the third mapping periods, and the third association mode period includes at least one of the third association periods.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein: Also includes: determining a second time window according to at least one of the second mapping period, the second association period, and the second association mode period; and determining a third time window according to at least one of the third mapping period, the third association period and the third association mode period; The terminal sends a signal to the network device within the second time window based on the association result of the at least one SSB to the flexible PRACH resource; or sends a signal to the network side device within the third time window based on the association result of the at least one SSB to the static PRACH resource.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein: Also includes: determining a fourth time window according to at least one of a maximum mapping period of the second mapping period and the third mapping period, a maximum association period of the second association period and the third association period, and a maximum association mode period of the second association mode period and the third association mode period; The terminal sends a signal to the network device within the fourth time window based on the association result of the at least one SSB to the flexible PRACH resource; or sends a signal to the network device within the fourth time window based on the association result of the at least one SSB to the static PRACH resource.

20. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein: The flexible PRACH resource and the static PRACH resource satisfy at least one of the following: The flexible PRACH resource is associated with a PRACH resource in the static PRACH resource at the same frequency domain position and with the closest time domain distance; The flexible PRACH resource is associated with a PRACH resource in the static PRACH resource at the same time domain position and with the closest frequency domain distance; The flexible PRACH resource is the same as the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource associated with the flexible PRACH resource; The SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource is a subsequent SSB of the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource associated with the flexible PRACH resource.

21. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, wherein: The method further comprises: The terminal receives signaling from the network side device, where the signaling is used to configure an association relationship between SSB and PRACH resources corresponding to at least some of the flexible PRACH resources.

22. A communication method, wherein: include: The network side device determines first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel PRACH resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block SSB; The network side device sends the first configuration information to the terminal.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein: The first configuration information includes at least one of an SSB parameter, a PRACH resource set, and an association relationship between the SSB and the flexible PRACH resource.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein: The SSB parameters include at least one of the following: The maximum number of SSBs, the number of SSBs used by the current cell, at least one SSB used by the current cell, the number of SSBs associated with the flexible PRACH resources, and at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resources.

25. The method according to claim 23, wherein: The first configuration information also includes bitmap information, and the bitmap information is used to indicate at least one SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource.

26. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 25, wherein: Also includes: The network side device sends a first activation signal to the terminal, where the first activation signal is used to activate the flexible PRACH resource.

27. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 25, wherein: Also includes: The network side device sends a second activation signal to the terminal, where the second activation signal is used to activate a first part of the flexible PRACH resources in the flexible PRACH resources.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein: Also includes: The network side device sends a third activation signal to the terminal, and the third activation signal is used to activate a second part of flexible PRACH resources in the flexible PRACH resources; wherein the second part of flexible PRACH resources at least partially overlaps with the first part of flexible PRACH resources, or the second part of flexible PRACH resources does not overlap with the first part of flexible PRACH resources.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein: The first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources correspond to different SSB to PRACH resource associations, or correspond to the same SSB to PRACH resource associations.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein: When the resources overlapping the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the second part of flexible PRACH resources include the third part of flexible PRACH resources, the SSB associated with the third part of flexible PRACH resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the first part of flexible PRACH resources and the PRACH resources is the same as the SSB associated with the third part of flexible resources obtained according to the association relationship between the SSB corresponding to the second part of flexible PRACH resources and the PRACH resources, and the preamble code set associated with the SSB on the third part of flexible PRACH resources is the same.

31. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 30, wherein: Also includes: The network side device sends second configuration information to the terminal, where the second configuration information is used to configure the static PRACH resource associated with the at least one SSB.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein: The second configuration information includes an association relationship between the SSB and the static PRACH resource.

33. The method according to claim 31 or 32, wherein: The flexible PRACH resource and the static PRACH resource satisfy at least one of the following: The flexible PRACH resource is associated with a PRACH resource in the static PRACH resource at the same frequency domain position and with the closest time domain distance; The flexible PRACH resource is associated with a PRACH resource in the static PRACH resource at the same time domain position and with the closest frequency domain distance; The flexible PRACH resource is the same as the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource associated with the flexible PRACH resource; The SSB associated with the flexible PRACH resource is a subsequent SSB of the SSB associated with the static PRACH resource associated with the flexible PRACH resource.

34. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 33, wherein: The method further comprises: The network side device sends a signaling to the terminal, where the signaling is used to configure an association relationship between SSB and PRACH resources corresponding to at least some of the flexible PRACH resources.

35. A communication device, wherein: include: A receiving module, configured to receive first configuration information from a network side device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel PRACH resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block SSB; A determination module is used to determine the association result of at least one SSB to the PRACH resource based on the first configuration information.

36. A communication device, wherein: include: A determination module, configured to determine first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to configure a flexible physical random access channel PRACH resource associated with at least one synchronization signal block SSB; A sending module is used to send the first configuration information to the terminal.

37. A terminal, wherein: It comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 21 are implemented.

38. A network side device, wherein: It comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the communication method as described in any one of claims 22 to 34 are implemented.

39. A readable storage medium, wherein: The readable storage medium stores a program or instruction, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, it implements the communication method as described in any one of claims 1-21, or implements the steps of the communication method as described in any one of claims 22 to 34.

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